Unalaska, AK – The City Council reduced the mil rate and passed the fiscal year 2009 capital and operating budgets last night during a meeting that lasted over four hours.

In a 6-0 vote, the council reduced the mil rate, which determines property taxes, from 11.78 to 10.5. Council member Dick Peck suggested the reduction. He says that between the reduced mil rate and the increased property assessments, the city should break even.

"We get the same revenue that we budgeted for for the coming fiscal year," Peck said. "And therefore it's just the proper thing to do. We're not into increasing our bank accounts, we're into providing maximum value to the people of the community."

The council also passed the city's operating and capital budgets, 4 to 2. Council members Dick Peck and Juanita Lewis voted against the budget. Lewis says she disagreed with a decision to fund a non-profit beyond the cap the council had previously set.

"I had some conflict with that and suggested not funding the Rod and Gun club," she said. "I completely believe in them love to shoot, have gone out quite often to shoot but because of the motion that was brought forth it, it brought us over our cap and I thought that was wrong. So, I voted against that then in turn voted against okaying the budget for the same basic reason."

Mayor Shirley Marquardt says the 4-2 vote does not affect the passage of the budget.

"I think the only affect it had was to confuse city staff who put together exactly what they were asked to put together and provided the information and made themselves available for questions and more information during the process," the mayor said. "I saw some real looks of surprise on the faces of the folks who worked so hard to do it, you know, 'Gosh, what was the problem there?'"

Other items up for discussion were the light cargo dock proposal and a potential sales tax exemption for food and residential heating fuel. The council will host a workshop on the sales tax exemption proposal.